20 h. ago China’s energy security and ambiguity in the Middle East crisis

China’s energy security and ambiguity in the Middle East crisis  Middle East Monitor

Events

23 h. ago Losing the Long Game: China Advances As U.S. Refocuses on the Middle East

Losing the Long Game: China Advances As U.S. Refocuses on the Middle East  RealClearDefense

Politics

29 h. ago China’s US trade deal warning, Japanese princess flies economy: 5 weekend reads

We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China warns countries not to sign US trade deals at its expense 2. Why China may be keeping a close eye as Trump gets drawn into the Middle East 3. Dozens left stranded by Hong Kong’s Cathay after flight from New York cancelled 4. Palace intrigue conquers global screens: has China cast its new...

Events

29 h. ago China’s soft power, Cathay flight leaves dozens stranded: 5 weekend reads

We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China warns countries not to sign US trade deals at its expense 2. Why China may be keeping a close eye as Trump gets drawn into the Middle East 3. Dozens left stranded by Hong Kong’s Cathay after flight from New York cancelled 4. Palace intrigue conquers global screens: has China cast its new...

Politics

31 h. ago As attacks on Iran show, Russia can now do very little for its allies

The recent war between Iran and Israel has laid bare a truth long obscured by Kremlin bluster: Russia is no longer a superpower. Moscow’s muted response to Tehran’s plight is not an anomaly but the latest – and perhaps most telling – chapter in a pattern of strategic neglect that stretches from the Middle East to the Levant and South Caucasus. Driven by President Vladimir Putin’s neo-imperialist fantasies, Russia plunged into Ukraine to find itself in a quagmire that has bled its military,...

Events

43 h. ago Ronnie O’Sullivan ‘hasn’t given up on Hong Kong’, immigration chief says

Snooker star Ronnie O’Sullivan, who obtained Hong Kong residency last year through a talent scheme, “has not given up” on the city, the immigration chief has said, despite the newlywed seven-time world champion recently revealing plans to move to the Middle East. Asked about O’Sullivan’s intentions after he confirmed two days ago that he had married actress Laila Rouass, Director of Immigration Benson Kwok Joon-fung said on Sunday that he had been in touch with him and had stressed that Hong...

Politics

55 h. ago Why China may be keeping a close eye as Trump gets drawn into the Middle East

As the US gets more entangled in the Israel-Iran conflict, China is likely to be keeping a close watch and picking up some clues on American interventionism in regional disputes. According to one China watcher, Beijing may be a “long-term beneficiary” of the American retreat from stable leadership, as Washington’s strikes on Iran have revealed it to be an uncertain and unpredictable global power. More significantly, the conflict has revealed Washington’s reluctance to engage in a prolonged war,...

Politics

67 h. ago China to stay cautious as Iran seeks aid amid US, Israel clashes: Mideast expert

Iran may look to China for weapons support amid conflicts with the US and Israel, but Beijing will remain cautious, considering strained economic ties with Tehran and its broader interest in balancing ties with Israel and other Western-aligned states in the region, according to a veteran Chinese expert on the Middle East. In an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post, Pan Guang, a Chinese scholar of Jewish and Middle East studies, said the conflict between Iran and Israel was...

Politics

3 d. ago From Iraq to Iran: the US quest for Israeli military dominance – and its fallout

As Israeli jets and American bombers streaked across Iranian skies earlier this month, the world watched a familiar game plan unfold – one that had its origins in secret meetings, veiled ambitions and the relentless logic of regional dominance that has haunted the Middle East for generations. The process began decades earlier, in the smoke of American air strikes on Iraq and the calculations of US policymakers determined to keep Israel unrivalled. It was the late 1990s when a small, bipartisan...

Events

3 d. ago Boom goes the deal? China’s Iran investments under fire, but Middle East beckons

Watching as missile bombardments threaten key shipping routes and blow up some of their trade deals in the Middle East, with Iran at the centre of the firestorm, Chinese exporters are feeling the heat. After finalising a deal with an Iranian buyer she met at China’s Canton Fair in April, Miya Yu, a trader of light industrial goods – valves, toys, aluminium containers, etc – collected the necessary materials to begin production and fill the order. Production never began. The contracted client...

Economics

4 d. ago China warned to watch for threats as Israeli spies in Iran open ‘Pandora’s box’

Israel’s unprecedented success in infiltrating Iranian intelligence has opened up a “Pandora’s box” of global security threats, Chinese observers have warned, while urging China to tighten all national security measures against any vulnerabilities. According to Chinese military analyst and former air force member Fu Qianshao, one striking feature of the Middle East conflict is the critical role played by Israeli intelligence agents embedded in Iran. Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency reportedly...

Events

6 d. ago White House clarifies Trump’s comment on China buying Iranian oil

US President Donald Trump’s declaration on Tuesday that China “can now continue” to buy Iranian oil did not signal a change in Washington’s policy on banning such trade, the White House said. Trump’s earlier comments about China-Iran oil trade were made to highlight the continuation of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz - a critical shipping lane that appeared threatened by the escalation of conflict in the Middle East following the US military’s air strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, according...

Politics

6 d. ago China backs Iran’s efforts to safeguard sovereignty, security

China backs Iran’s efforts to safeguard sovereignty, security  Middle East Monitor

Events

6 d. ago China Helpless as Middle East War Craters Regional Leverage: Analysts

China Helpless as Middle East War Craters Regional Leverage: Analysts  The China-Global South Project

Events

7 d. ago China’s Hard Fought Leverage In The Middle East Evaporates As Beijing Watched Iran

China’s Hard Fought Leverage In The Middle East Evaporates As Beijing Watched Iran-Israel War Helplessly  EurAsian Times

Politics

7 d. ago China’s Hard Fought Leverage In The Middle East Dented As Beijing Helplessly Watched Iran

China’s Hard Fought Leverage In The Middle East Dented As Beijing Helplessly Watched Iran-Israel War: Analyst  EurAsian Times

Politics

7 d. ago As skies in Mideast close, China airlines have key advantage – Russian airspace

Western airlines risk suffering greater disruption than their Chinese rivals this summer, as the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel – compounded by US military strikes – forces most carriers to avoid flying over dangerous airspace on China-Europe routes. Analysts said that while almost all carriers have diverted services to bypass Iran and parts of the Middle East, Western firms are at a disadvantage: they remain barred from Russian airspace, which Chinese companies continue to...

Politics

7 d. ago 20 of 21 Hongkongers in Israel and Iran have left those countries: John Lee

All but one of the 21 Hongkongers who were in Israel or Iran have left those countries safely, Hong Kong’s leader has said, adding that escalating tensions in the Middle East will not affect the city’s efforts to develop markets there. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Tuesday that the Immigration Department had received inquiries from 21 Hong Kong residents who were in Israel or Iran as of Monday. “Twenty of them have already departed safely. The department will continue to maintain...

Politics

7 d. ago 20 of 21 Hongkongers in Israel and Iran have left the countries: John Lee

All but one of the 21 Hongkongers who were in Israel or Iran have left the countries safely, Hong Kong’s leader has said, adding that escalating tensions in the Middle East will not affect the city’s efforts to develop markets there. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Tuesday that the Immigration Department had received inquiries from 21 Hong Kong residents who were in Israel or Iran as of Monday. “Twenty of them have already departed safely. The department will continue to maintain close...

Politics

7 d. ago Should Taiwan worry about the US being bogged down in the Mideast again?

A US war in the Middle East could leave its armed forces stretched too thin to respond swiftly to a Taiwan Strait crisis, analysts on the island warned after the US launched multiple precision strikes on nuclear-related sites in Iran on the weekend. While US President Donald Trump was quick to describe the operation as a “very successful attack”, defence analysts and lawmakers in Taipei suggested that American attention could be diverted from the Taiwan Strait. Their core concern: that the...

Politics